Mark Carney spends his first day deciding whom to put on the £5 note

Fry had been on the notes since 2001, and the decision to replace her with Winston Churchill came from former Bank of England governor Mervyn King. If this were to be approved, there would be no women on any denomination of British bank notes. The Queen appears on all the notes but this argument is often considered moot because she is the constitutional monarch, and was ‘born into her position’.

“The symbolism of having no women on our bank notes leaves a chasm where there once was inspiration – and contributes to an undoing of some of the hard work I know this Government has done to remove barriers and support women in our country.”